Thai court issues warrant for suspect in second bomb blast

A Thai court today issued an arrest warrant for an unnamed suspect in a riverside blast that occurred a day after the bombing of a shrine in central Bangkok which killed 20 people.
Police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said the suspect appeared in a security video that shows a blurry image of an unidentified man in a blue shirt kicking a bag into the water near a busy pier on the night of August 17, soon after the explosion at the Erawan Shrine.
An explosion took place near the spot about 18 hours later on August 18, but caused no casualties.

The blast at the Erawan Shrine was unprecedented in the Thai capital, where smaller bombs have been employed in domestic political violence over the past decade, but not in an effort to cause large-scale casualties.
Police have not determined a clear motive for the shrine bombing, which injured more than 120 people in addition to the 20 fatalities.
Possible suspects include Muslim separatists from southern Thailand, parties seeking to avenge the forced repatriation of ethnic Uighurs to China by the Thai government, opponents of Thailand's military government and feuding factions within the security services.

The warrant issued today by the South Bangkok Criminal Court says the suspect in the river blast faces charges of attempted premeditated murder, exploding a bomb that could cause harm and unauthorised possession of explosives, Prawut said.

It does not specify the suspect's name or nationality, but describes him as having white skin, a pointed nose and short hair, and being about 170 centimetres tall and weighing about 65 kilogrammes.
Police have not definitively linked the two blasts according to their public statements.
They have said a network of people must have been involved in the shrine bombing. An arrest warrant was issued last week for a suspect in that explosion, also without a name or nationality. No arrests have been made in either case.
Criticism of the police investigation has been strong because few facts have been clearly established, including the type of explosives used in the bombs.

Authorities have been accused of rapidly hosing down the crime scene at the shrine before all forensic evidence was recovered so it could be reopened to reassure the public - especially foreign tourists -- that security in the city was back to normal.